Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which includes console air volume distribution means formed on a mode cam to control the degree of opening of a console door, thereby varying distribution of air volume of a console vent by air discharge modes.
Background Art
In general, an air conditioner for a vehicle is a car part, which is installed in a vehicle for the purpose of cooling or heating the interior of the vehicle in the summer season or the winter season or removing frost from a windshield in the rainy season or the winter season to thereby secure a driver's front and rear visual fields. Such an air conditioner typically includes a heating device and a cooling device together, so that it can heat, cool or ventilate the interior of the vehicle through the steps of selectively introducing the indoor air or the outdoor air into the air conditioner, heating or cooling the introduced air, and blowing the heated or cooled air into the vehicle.
According to mounted structures of an air blower unit, an evaporator unit and a heater core unit, such an air conditioner is classified into a three-piece type air conditioner where the air blower unit, the evaporator unit, and the heater core unit are disposed independently, a semi-center type air conditioner where the evaporator unit and the heater core unit are embedded in an air-conditioning case and the air blower unit is mounted separately, and a center-mounting type air conditioner where the three units are all embedded in the air-conditioning case.
Recently, an independent type air conditioner, which separately and independently provides air of different temperatures to a driver's seat and to a passenger's seat inside the vehicle to thereby individually heat and cool the seats according to the driver's or the passenger's need, has been disclosed.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle. In FIG. 1, the air conditioner 1 includes: an air-conditioning case 10 having an air inflow port 11 formed at one side thereof and a defrost vent 12a, a face vent 12b and floor vents 12c and 12d formed at the other side thereof in such a way as to be adjusted in degree of opening by mode doors 16a, 16b and 16c; an evaporator 2 and a heater core 3 that are mounted on air passageways in the air-conditioning case 10 in order and spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval; and an air blower (not shown) connected to the air inflow port 11 of the air-conditioning case 10 for sending indoor air or outdoor air.
Moreover, the air conditioner further includes a temperature-adjusting door 15 mounted between the evaporator 2 and the heater core 3 for controlling temperature by adjusting the degree of opening of a cold air passageway P1 bypassing the heater core 3 and of a warm air passageway P2 passing through the heater core 3.
Furthermore, the mode doors 16a, 16b and 16c control the degree of opening of the relevant vents and carry out various air discharge modes, namely, a vent mode, a bi-level mode, a floor mode, a mixing mode, and a defrost mode.
Additionally, the air-conditioning case 10 has a floor channel 13 which is formed therein and is partitioned by a partition wall 17 from the warm air passageway P2 located at the rear side of the heater core 3, and the floor channel 13 guides the air inside the air-conditioning case 10 to the floor vents 12c and 12d. 
Here, the floor vents 12c and 12d are divided into the floor vent 12c for a front seat and the floor vent 12d for a rear seat and diverge from the floor channel 13.
In addition, because there is a severe difference in temperature between the front seat and the rear seat, in order to solve the problem, a console vent 20 for supplying air-conditioning air to the rear seat space by inducing discharge of air toward a console box (not shown) which is the central portion of the inside of the vehicle is formed on the outer surface of the air-conditioning case 10 at the rear side of the floor channel 13.
Therefore, in order to heat or cool the rear seat space, the air is guided toward the console box through the console vent 20, and then, is supplied to the rear seat space.
As described above, in the air conditioner 1 for the vehicle, in case of the greatest cooling mode, the temperature-adjusting door 15 opens the cold air passageway P1 and closes the warm air passageway P2. Therefore, the air blown by the air blower (not shown) exchanges heat with refrigerant flowing inside the evaporator 2 while passing through the evaporator 2, and is converted into cold air. After that, the converted air flows toward a mixing chamber MC through the cold air passageway P1, and then, is discharged to the inside of the vehicle through the vents opened by the mode doors 16a, 16b and 16c according to the predetermined air discharge modes, namely, the vent mode, the bi-level mode, the floor mode, the mixing mode and the defrost mode, so as to cool the inside of the vehicle.
Moreover, in the case of the greatest heating mode, the temperature-adjusting door 15 closes the cold air passageway P1 and opens the warm air passageway P2. Accordingly, the air blown by the air blower (not shown) passes through the evaporator 2, and then, is converted into warm air by exchanging heat with cooling water flowing inside the heater core 3 while passing through the heater core 3 through the warm air passageway P2. After that, the converted air flows toward the mixing chamber MC, and then, is discharged to the inside of the vehicle through the vents opened by the mode doors 16a, 16b and 16c according to the predetermined air discharge modes, so as to heat the inside of the vehicle.
In the greatest cooling mode and the greatest heating mode, air is also supplied to the console vent 20 which is always opened so as to cool and heat the rear seat space.
However, in case of the conventional air conditioner, because the console vent 20 is opened the greatest even in the floor mode and the mixing mode which are the air discharge mode of the heating mode, the air is excessively discharged to the console vent 20, and it increases displeasure of the passenger who is seating on the rear seat and causes the lack of air volume of the front seat due to the excessive air volume of the rear seat.
In the meantime, a console door may be installed on the console vent 20, but, in this instance, the console door just functions to open the greatest or close the console vent 20. In other words, the console door closes the console vent 20 only in the defrost mode, but opens the console vent 20 the greatest in the face mode, the bi-level mode, the floor mode and the mixing mode. Therefore, the air conditioner for the vehicle having the console door still has the above-mentioned problem.